Experiment with Rohrbaugh R9s: Spring-gate 2008

I am going to be doing a little experiment with my Rohrbaugh R9s.

I have ended up with 650 rounds of 9mm ammo and the only 9mm gun I actually own and shoot is my Rohrbaugh so I am going to put all 650 rounds through it over the course of the next week. I only own one other 9mm (S&W m659) since selling my XD-9SC and I do not shoot it.

I managed to get 150 though it yesterday and that was on top of the 100 rounds (not included in the 650 round test) I put through it last weekend. By the end of the test I should have 750 rounds through it.

The goal of the test is going to be to test the recoil spring. I will not be changing the springs until the gun starts to fail.

I was told by Rohrbaugh that the spring should realistically last for over 500 rounds before even starting to show wear and that the 200-300 round spring change suggestion is just a worst case scenario thing. I guess I will see for myself.

You give $1000 for a gun, and the factory tells you to start buying replacement parts for it after shooting 6 boxes of ammo?

This is a very good incentive for someone to spend $700 for a Kahr that is only slightly larger and is just starting to get broken in at 300 rounds.

I will take replacing a $3 spring (which requires no addition effort over a regular cleaning) in a reliable performer which also happens to be the world's smallest and lightest 9mm carry pistol over the unreliable performance of Kahr's polymer pistols any day of the week.

Plus, if you actually talk to the people at Kahr they will also recommend replacing your recoil spring every 500 rounds to prevent excessive frame fatigue.

I looked at the Rohrbaugh before I bought my first Kahr, and elected to buy something with sights so I could shoot accurately out to 15 yards if I wanted. I bought a lot of ammo with the money I saved.

I've had three of them, all very accurate and dependable, and have yet to replace anything, after hundreds of rounds through each of them.

But I don't mean to demean your gun. I have no experience with Rohrbaugh, so I'm interested to see how your test comes out.

It just struck me as funny...but I'll admit to having a warped sense of humor.

Put another 100 rounds through it today. That brings the total to 350 rounds on this new spring. I am checking the springs resistance during each cleaning and so far here is no change in the strength of the spring. It is not showing any wear yet.

I did break down and buy a gel-padded shooting glove. This gun is not bad to shoot but after a bout 50 rounds or more these micro guns start to wear on you.